


Loss of Limb Will Not Excuse You

by Lukenthius



Series: Harry Potter OneShots [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Amputation, Gen, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Hopeful Ending, Snape's Words Come Back To Bite Him In The Ass, not as dark as you'd think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 15:57:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lukenthius/pseuds/Lukenthius
Summary: When a last minute switch of dragons during the first task results in Harry facing a Ukrainian Ironbelly, and losing a leg as a result, Harry can't help but remember what Professor Snape told him the year before."Then I suggest you be careful. Loss of limb will not excuse you."





	Loss of Limb Will Not Excuse You

_“Loss of limb will not excuse you._ ”

Harry huffed and leant back on the bed, rubbing the stump that used to be his right leg. He looked around the hospital wing and sighed before pushing himself into a sitting position. “Dobby.” he called.

There was a quiet pop and Dobby appeared in the chair at his bedside. His ears were drooped down and he was wringing them nervously. “What can Dobby be doing for Master Harry Potter sir?”

Harry smiled and rubbed his hand over the little elf’s head to reassure him he was okay. “Can you get my school bag from my dorm room?”

Dobby nodded and after a quick nuzzle to Harry’s hand he popped away, returning moments later with Harry’s bag. “Is this everything, Master Harry Potter sir?”

Harry rummaged through the bag and pulled out his potions book, a quill, a bottle of ink, some cream parchment and his planner that Hermione had bought him last year. He looked at it quickly. “Could you get the copy of ‘1001 magical herbs and fungi’ from my trunk?” Dobby nodded and popped away again, returning with the requested book. “Thanks Dobby.”

Dobby nodded. “If you’s is needing anything, you be letting Dobby know so Dobby can help. Dobby be wanting to help.”

Harry smiled. “I know, Dobby. Don’t worry. If I need anything I’ll call you first.”

Dobby nodded and popped away.

Harry sighed and opened his potions book to the right page and began reading. As he read he checked his herbology book and cross referenced everything before he started on the essay. He worked for several hours, calling Dobby to bring him a drink after a while as the potions Madam Pomfrey had given him earlier made him quite thirsty.

By the time dinner rolled around Harry had finished the final version of his essay. When Madam Pomfrey came in with the food Harry smiled slightly and readjusted his position. He ate in pensive silence, his left hand rubbing on his stump more often than not as he ate with only his right hand.

As he settled down for the night he smiled as he imagined the look on Snape’s face.

He woke several times during the night from nightmares and grabbed at the air where his leg should have been.  He sat up some time around dawn and shook his head. He wanted to move around to work off some of his restless energy but couldn’t get out of the bed.

Eventually Madam Pomfrey showed up with breakfast and Harry ate in silence. He would not have his prosthetic until the day after tomorrow so he had to wait until then before he could get out of bed. After breakfast Harry called Dobby and had him deliver his potions essay to Snape, before his lesson.

Harry sighed and sat back on the bed, reading through his school books and desperately wishing he could even do so much as walk across the room, even if he wasn’t allowed outside. He looked up as Snape came into the room, his essay in hand, professors McGonagall and Dumbledore coming in behind him.

“What is this, Potter?”

Harry sighed. “My homework, sir. I thought it best to give it to you before classes started as I won’t be able to attend classes today.”

Snape looked at Harry with an odd look on his face. “Why did you do it at all?”

Harry tilted his head. “You said that loss of limb wouldn’t excuse me from doing the homework sir.”

McGonagall glared at Snape. “You did what?”

Snape frowned. “When did I tell you that, Potter?”

“Last year, when you gave out the assignment on werewolves.”

Snape blinked and looked at Harry, still with the strange look on his face. “I didn’t mean it Potter. You were talking about quidditch. I didn’t think you would actually...” the man trailed off and looked down at the stump Harry was still stroking.

Harry sighed and leant back. “I know sir, but I needed something to distract me.”

Dumbledore smiled. “Well, I’m glad you’re taking your studies so seriously Harry.”

Snape smirked and lifted Harry’s essay to eye height, waving it slightly. “You do realise this means you will never get out of doing your homework again?”

Harry chuckled dryly and looked down at his stump, somewhat surprised to see his hand there too. “At this point, anything to keep me occupied is good.” He gave the teachers a strained smirk, “Even homework.”

Dumbledore clapped his hands. “Well, then you won’t mind if Miss Granger were to bring you her notes and your homework to work on while you’re here.”

Harry nodded. “Of course. Thank you sir.”

Dumbledore nodded. “You have, of course, been withdrawn from the tri wizard tournament, on account of injury.”

Harry sighed and smiled, a genuine smile this time, rather than a strained one. “Thank you, sir. I didn’t want to be in that stupid tournament anyway. I'm sure whoever put my name in will try some other way to kill me by the end of the year but for now, I just want to focus on everything but my missing leg.”

Snape nodded. “Had you not been pitted against a Ukrainian Ironbelly I’m sure you would have done better. They originally wanted to bring in a Hungarian Horntail they’re one of the most vicious breeds but at least they aren’t bomb proof like the Ironbelly. I don’t know why they switched at the last second.”

Harry sighed. “Whatever the reason, I lost a leg because of it.” he looked down at the stump and smirked darkly at how short it was. “I was lucky not to lose my manhood.”

Snape rocked backwards slightly. “You were luck not to lose your life!”

Harry gave a cold, dark chuckle. “I’ve nearly lost my life in so many ways already sir, I’m starting to think fate just likes seeing how many ways it can _almost_ kill me but not actually finish the job.”

Everyone was saved having to answer by the arrival of the eccentric young man from the prosthetics department. “Mr Potter! Good news, I was able to get all the parts I needed early and was able to finish last night.” He held out what looked like a robotic leg. “Thank god you were okay with this design. It’s one of the best but no self respecting pure blood would be seen with a muggle prosthetic.”

The three professors made their way out of the room as the man showed Harry how to put it on and take it off as well as how to care for the parts and what runes did what. “That one stops your clothes from getting caught in it, this one protects it from general wear and tear, this one allows it to grow with your other leg for a good foot and a half, which I doubt you’ll need since I don’t think your leg is going to grow that much.” The man was quite happy to ramble on at length about Harry’s new prosthetic and Harry found himself cheering slightly at the man’s enthusiasm.

The leg worked fine too. Harry was able to move it just like his real leg with the aid of magic to enhance the muggle design, though it was made purely by magical forging techniques. The man smirked as Harry’s face screwed up at the sluggish and slightly jerky movements at the start. “You have to actually believe it will work or it won’t.” after that Harry had little to no trouble with it. It wasn’t as fast as his other leg and the new sensations brought on by the rune network allowing him to be at least slightly aware of it so he wasn’t constantly kicking people or banging it around would take some getting used to but Harry was sure that he would be able to do everything just as he could before.

He knew he’d be having nightmares about it for years, but at least this whole thing was going to affect him less than he’d thought. He could still walk. He could still fly, though playing quidditch may be a challenge. He could still live his life, even if he did have to change a few things.

Yeah. He could do this.


End file.
